10 things that can go wrong with your job search

I am sure you had asked: “Why am I still unemployed in spite of my serious efforts and very strong desire to get the job my dream job?” This is even very pertinent at the beginning of a new year. In the next three weeks or so, we will go further to help you get this your out-of the-world dream-job you want so badly. That was the promise we made earlier. We will take you through the dash-board of job hunting and see the value that not right/correct/within range.

Many expect a simple, short and precise answer to the question above. Unfortunately there is nothing like that. The reason for this is that the employment process is complex, and usually in stages. And progress often depends on success at the previous stages.

The other reason is that the recruitment process is imprecise, varying from company to company, and from one individual responsible for recruitment to another. The least you can do is to position yourself for better chance by acquiring the relevant job hunting skills. For you, it may just be that you are not getting one particular stage or skill right; for others, it may be two or three or more! So, what can be wrong?

• Poor understanding of self

I hope this do not surprise you-most of us do not know ourselves enough to make informed decision about our job/career direction. I was talking to an applicant sometimes ago.

He majored in one of the Modern European languages, worked in one of the nation’s security services for four years, and has been ‘helping’ his uncle for the past three years. Now what does he want from me? He wants me to advise him on what work he should be looking for. I asked him what skills he thinks he has for a possible clue on career direction.

He could not say precisely. This is often the case when an applicant says he/she is ready to do ‘any job that is available’. Really your job and career goal depends on the skills you have, personal preferences/aptitude, and life and career, goals. Skills are the foundation of job search. Employers want to know what it is you can do for them.

What are skills you may want to ask? A simple but appropriate definition is that a skill is anything you can do now. Everyone has skills, hundreds of skills, many of which employers are looking for. Yet most people can only identify a few, and are not able to describe then to the employer. Experts agree that skill identification is essential to a successful job hunt.

Now do you have personal goals in life? Where do you want to be in five, 10, 20, 30, 40 years with a vision, most young people today are just drifting in the sea of life?

For a job search to be purposeful and focused, applicants need to have a job objective- please not the meaningless verbosity you see in most Résumé/CVs. What do you enjoy doing? What are your personal qualities and traits? Does your identified attitude, style and temperament fit your career direction?

• Poor understanding of hiring process

The second thing that may be the cause of your prolonged unemployment is your poor understanding of the employers hiring process and attitude. In most situations, employment/hiring has been turned to a two- lane expressway – where there is little or no contact between on coming and on going vehicles. For example, declaring a vacancy via newspaper advert is the last option for most employers.

Unfortunately, a significant number of applicants depend on want-add alone for their job lead. However, over 80 per cent of positions are not advertised before they are filled. When was the last time you saw job advertisement from Guaranty Trust Bank, NNPC, CBN, Shell, Dangote Group, etc.

When you desire to work for any organisation what do you do? You approach the personnel department for information and possible assistance. Right? Wrong. The major role of personnel department in the recruitment process is to screen you out!

• Poor management of change/joblessness

Whether you are unemployed, under employed, employed by looking for a better job, or entering the work for the very first time, or entering after a long absence, you are facing change. And change affects our emotions – relief, anticipation, or renewal, or you may fell anger, sadness, fear, depression or confusion. These feelings are natural.

The key to successful management of change (and attendant transition) is attitude. Williams James, the father of modern psychology, said: “We can alter our live by altering our attitudes.” If we learn to manage our attitudes, we won’t feel paralysed, and benefits will follow. Related to this your attitude to job search. Are you hopeful or pessimistic? Do you feel challenged or defeated?

The next important consideration is how much of you time, energy and money are you willing invest in yourself, or better still in your future? I have seen a lot of applicants who feel that they should not be expected to pay for seminars/services that will enhance their chance for good employment in the shortest possible time (never mind that most of them possess state-of-the-art GSM handsets and make at N50 or more worth of call or take at least a bottle of Coke everyday).

If you are looking for a job that will pay you N800,000 p.a., how much should you invest to make it happen this year, and not next year? If your current pay is N900,000 p.a., how much should you invest to get a N2.9 million job instead of a N1.7m p.a. job?

Form the foregoing, it is obvious that job hunting is complex, and requires some specific skills, knowledge and attitude. So we won’t be able to cover everything today. We will continue next week. Good luck in 2013.

PS

From me to you: You really want a good job. I know. But do you know how to get one? I am not sure. Get yourself a complete job-hunting toolkit- visit www.jobsearchhow.com.ng/jobhuntingmanual for additional information.